Roadshow: Golden Gate toll plan has drivers confused

Q You recently mentioned how to find out how to pay your tolls on the Golden Gate Bridge when they replace all the toll takers and go to an all-electronic system. As an occasional crosser who has been curious about that, I gratefully and obediently went to www.goldengate.org/tolls.

OMG! Have you read all the subdivisions of that stuff? For the tourist or the occasional crosser, it boils down to (1) use a computer, (2) use a computer (3) use a computer or (4) during business hours find parking at the Embarcadero or (5) call during business hours!

What are they thinking? San Francisco, your basic tourist-friendly town -- not!

Liz Esterly

San Jose

A OMG, today is the day to try and clear up some of the confusion -- and there is sure to be a lot of that when the Golden Gate Bridge converts to all-electronic collection in late March. That means no cash payments at the toll booths and no toll collectors, but plenty of questions.

Q What about those of us who rarely cross the Golden Gate Bridge, but need to do so once every few years? I'm going up to Petaluma at some point to close out my mother's bank box. How am I going to pay the toll to return back to San Francisco?

Melinda Flick

Boulder Creek

A If you drive across any Bay Area bridge frequently, get FasTrak. You get $1 off the $6 Golden Gate Bridge toll and it's so easy to use.

There are three options for drivers who don't cross the Golden Gate very often, say less than 10 times year: Set up a license plate account, make a one-time payment in advance or request a toll invoice (if you do none of these, an invoice will be sent to the address listed on vehicle's registration). To learn more about these options, go to www.goldengate.org/tolls/paybyplate.php.

Q What's the tourist to do? We live in L.A. and might find ourselves wanting to drive over the bridge on a trip up the coast sometime. Are we no longer allowed to? I am genuinely at a loss to understand the process. Someone visiting from New York or out of the country can't possibly be expected to know how to set up a credit card account with some random toll company.

Tara Woods

Rancho Palos Verdes

A Tourists will have two ways to pay their toll when crossing into San Francisco. Making a one-time payment is likely to be the most convenient. You can do this online with a credit card BEFORE or AFTER your crossing. To learn more about how to make a one-time payment, go to www.goldengate.org/tolls/paybyplate.php#onetimepayment.

Tourists and other visitors can wait for a toll invoice to be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle. These must be paid 21 days after using the bridge, or else they could get hit with hefty fines.

Q I'm wondering about rental cars using the Golden Gate Bridge bridge when toll takers are gone. Recently I rented a car in Toronto. Knowing there were toll roads on my route with no toll takers, I asked the rental agent about the policy if I used these roads.

The rental agency would receive a bill from the toll agency based on the license plate and they would in turn bill the person who rented the car a $50 service charge.

Do we know how car rental agencies will handle this for the Golden Gate? With the number of tourists and rental cars I suspect use the Golden Gate, this can open up the proverbial can of worms.

Sonny Memcher

Redwood City

A Just $50? You got off cheap.

Q My wife and I attended an alumni reunion in New Jersey recently and we entered a toll area on the Garden State Parkway that only took FasTrak or read your license plate and billed you. But we had a rental car and a month later we received a bill from the car rental agency -- $2 for the toll plus another $100 service fee.

John Martin

A Most major rental car companies will charge a convenience fee. Bridge officials will have the license plates of the rental cars in their system, and will charge the toll to the appropriate driver.

Renters should ask their rental car agent about the company's tolling program at the time of their reservation. If renters choose to opt out of the rental car company program, they can make a one-time payment before or after they cross the Golden Gate.